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At first, Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo tried to hide
their relationship from the public, but their “holding hands” moments in
several showbiz events betrayed how so much in love they were.

Photo: courtesy of YES! magazine

Last May, Ryan Agoncillo finally decided to pop the magical
question to his girlfriend of three years, the young superstar Judy Ann Santos,
“Will you marry me?”

For more than a month, the couple managed to keep their
engagement away from the public, until the July 2008 issue of YES!
confirmed it in an exclusive interview with the couple.Juday, as she is popularly called in showbiz,
and Ryan gave the details of the marriage proposal, which happened during the
30th birthday celebration of the actress.

With this announcement, fans of the couple have started
reminiscing the days when the two were still starting in their
relationship.Judy Ann and Ryan also
tried to keep their relationship a secret, remember?

Here’s a flashback to the days when Juday and Ryan were
still in their “holding hands” phase.

FROM ‘HELLO-HI’ TO LOVE TEAM.In an article written by Nitz Miralles
for the July 2005 issue of the defunct showbiz publication Hi!, Ryan
said that his first two encounters with the then 27-year-old actress were
casual and uneventful.

“Our first encounter was at the studio of Raymund
Isaac.She was there for a pictorial at
ako nama’y nasu-shoot for an ad.Sabi ko
lang, ‘Hello,’ at nag-‘Hi’ naman siya.I
just know she was Judy Ann Santos at in-assume kong she knew who I was.”

The second time, according to Ryan, was at a certain
salon.“Nagpapaayos siya and I was
having a haircut.Again, hi and hello pa
rin ang exchange of words namin.Sa Krystala
lang talaga kami nagkakilala nang husto.”

The 29-year-old actor-TV host was one of the three leading
men of Juday in the 2004 TV fantaserye Krystala on ABS-CBN.Ryan played the character Miguel who ended up
as the husband of Tala (Judy Ann).

Before the series concluded in 2005, it was bruited about
that the two main actors were already together.So, when the finale of Krystala came, people started to ask, “Did
Ryan also end up as Juday’s boyfriend?”

HOLDING HANDS AND SWEET MOMENTS.The couple first refused to answer the
nagging question from the press.But
their actions in several showbiz affairs strongly suggested the real score between
them.

On the night of the Luna Awards in May 2005, Juday arrived
with her escort, none other than her “on-screen partner” Ryan. The two were already
being rumored as a couple.But not
anymore for the people who saw them together that night.

A month later, Juday and Ryan appeared ever more sweet as a
couple when they attended the Urian awards—holding hands and hugging each other
every now and then.

Judy Ann received a Best Actress award, her first-ever Gawad
Urian for her movie Sabel (2004).Her acceptance speech gave an additional clue that she and Ryan were
already in a relationship.At the end of
her speech, she said, “Thank you, Ryan.”Later on, when TV crews asked about it, she just said, “Alam na ni Ryan
’yon kung bakit ako nag-thank you… at amin na lang ’yon.”

Since the couple did not want to publicly admit their
relationship, YES! interviewed Mommy Carol, mother of Judy Ann, for a
confirmation.Mommy Carol could not even
verify it, however, because when she confronted them, the two did not answer
her directly.

KASAL, KASALI, KASALO. After Krystala, Juday and Ryan looked
like they were inseparable in doing movie and TV projects.When Ryan starred in Umaaraw, Umuulan
(2006), Juday made a cameo appearance.They even had another TV series together, Ysabella, on ABS-CBN in
2007.

Then their fans got even more excited when the couple teamed
up in the movie Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo (2006).Since they would be playing the role of a
couple who would get married, Juday and Ryan were again asked about their
wedding plans. But they said they didn’t have any definite plan yet.

The following year, a sequel for that movie was made, Sakal,
Sakali, Saklolo (2007).In the
story, Juday and Ryan were already playing the role of a married couple.Again, they were asked about marriage
plans.There were even rumors that the
wedding would happen this year, November 5, 2008.But the couple denied this and said that they
have to save up for it first.

THE MUCH-AWAITED ENGAGEMENT.Ryan finally popped the question that
everybody had been waiting for during the 30th birthday of his
girlfriend last May 14 at the Antulang Beach Resort in Dumaguete City,
Negros Oriental.

Even before the actual birthday of Judy Ann, there were
already rumors that Ryan would give a diamond ring to his girlfriend as his
gift.No one could verify if this was
already an engagement ring.A PEP
source, who was close to the couple, was not even sure about it when asked a
day after the birthday of Judy Ann.

As to the exact date, Ryan said in an exclusive interview
with Ms. Sharon Cuneta on her show Sharon, last July 6, “I wanted it to
come from her, na she will sit me down and tell me what her plans are. ‘Pag
narinig ko ‘yon kung mag-meet kami half-way, then at least narinig ko sa kanya.
Kasi if I make suggestion at this point, at least narinig ko sa kanya.”